Improvement in elevator-towers



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Patented Apr'114, `18v76.

L. B. SAWYER.

ELEVATOR TOWER.

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NITED STATES PATENT rr'rcn.`

LEMUEL B. SAWYER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS'.

IM PROVENIENT IN ELEVATOR-TOWERS'.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 175,765, dated April 4,1876; application tiled- December 20, 1875.

To all 'inkom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEMUEL B. SAWYER, of Boston, in the county of Suiolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful structure,which I call Aerial Galleries, of which thefollowing, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, isa specifi-r cation:

My invention relates to a structure for the convenience of persons whowish to view a town and the surrounding country from an elevatedstand-point.

In all large cities and towns the highest buildings, and often thesteeples of the churches, are resorted to for the purpose of obtaining abirds-cye view ofthe town and surroundingscenery, but the number-thatcan be accommodated, or that will avail themselves of the accommodation,when to do so, they have to perform the laborious task of climbing tothe elevated position up long, crooked, and wind` ing staircases, andoften through dark passages, is very limited.

The object of my present invention isto supply the want, heretoforefelt, of a place Where large numbers of people can beV safely andexpeditiously raised to a sufeiently elevated position to obtain a goodview of the city, Without the severe toil of climbing, but instead theycan sit or be quietly at rest andview the scenery as they are moving upor down.

LettersiPatent of the United States were granted to me on the 9th day ofOctober, 1866, numbered 58,680, for an observatory, in which theseadvantages were obtained to a certain extent, but its capacity waslimited ;V

to a sufficient height for safety, with. wire-netting, or other suitableopen-Work guard, to prevent accidents.

My invention further consists in. building upon the top of the tower,above Ithe sheaves that support the elevator-cars, a` room completelyinclosed with Wire-netting or other suitable open-Work guard, which,While it shall be a protection againstzaccidents, shall present littleor no obstruction to the View, and also shall present but little surfacefor the wind to act upon.

My invention further consists in making the ioor of this upper inclosurein the form of a series of steps running-around the room and risingtoward` the. center of theroom, so that those persons standing inthecenter of the room can look over-the heads of those in front, or nearthe outer circumference of the room.

Figurel of the drawings is aside elevation of my improved observatoryor. aerialL galleries. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on line x:l: on Figs. land 4. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinalsection on line4y-y on Figs. 2 and 4. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section online o v onFig.-3, and showing a plan of thelower gallery. Fig. 5 is a horizontalsection on line z c on Fig. 3, and showing a plan ofthe top inclosure,and Fig. 6 is a` side elevation of one of the trusses, showing themanner of bracing, Sac.

' A A are the outer posts of the trusses, and B B` the inner posts, saidouter and: inner posts being connected together and to each other ateach tloor or gallery G, and' at-one or more points between saidgalleries, by horizontal girders, the whole being suitably braced toform atrussed structure. DD are two hollow tubes, made, preferably, ofboiler-iron, riveted firmly to the bedA plate at the base, and to beconnected together and to the inner posts of the four contiguous trussesby suitable horizontal girders and diagonal bracing.- These tubes extendupward to the under side of the door of the upper inclosure, and,together with the inner posts of the several trusses, receive andsupport the horizontal beams (not shown in the drawings) upon which thebearings t'or supporting the sheaves over which the suspension-ropespass are mounted. In

, the center of the skeleton structure are built two well-rooms, E F,extending from the lower floor up to and through the upper-gallery floorC. G H are two passenger-elevator cars, provided with entrance-doors a tand windows b b, said windows extending entirely around the car exceptthe space occupiedby the door or doors, the upper portions of whichwould also be glazed. rlhese cars are suspended by said drinn is set inmotion in either direction, i

one of the ropes c is being wound onto the drum J and its car is beingraised, while thel other rope c is being nnwound from the drum J, andits car is descending.

lhe cars G H are guided in their ascent and descent in a well-knownmanner, and may have applied thereto any of the wellknown and approvedsafety attachments, and instead ot' being suspended by one rope, as

shown, will, in practice, have four or more suspension-ropes to eachcar.

From the upper gallery C two flights of stairs, d cZ, lead to theinclosure I, which covers the whole area of the top of the structure,and is entirely inclosed by wirenetting L, or other suit-able open-workguard, as shown, to prevent accidents. The floor of the inclosure I ismadeinto a series of steps, e, extending around the room and risingtoward the center thereof, as shown, so that persons standing in thecenter ot' the room can look over the heads of those in front and obtainan unobstructed view of the surrounding scenery. rlhe top inclosure Iand each of the galleries C are suitably guarded by a railing, f, uponthe outside, in addition to the wirenetting L. The galleries C are alsoprotected in a similar manner upon their inner sides, around thewell-rooms, and the wire-netting, instead of being only aboutbreast-high, as shown, will be extended upward fromthe floor of eachgallery'some ten or twelve feet,

both upon the exterior of the structure and around the well-rooms, andacross the structure from the exterior to the well-rooms, parallel tothe gallery-floors, forming each gallery into an oval annular inclosurefrom which there is no egress or ingress except through a door openingfrom or to each of the Well-rooms E F, said doors (not shown inthedrawings) being so arranged and operated that they cannot be openedexcept when the car is in position at the gallery.

The whole structure is to be open-work, or

a skeleton frame-work, so that the passengers While ascending ordescending will have a comparatively unobstructedview ofthe surroundingscenery, as well as when in either of the galleries or the topinclosure.-

The Weight of either car is counterbalaneed by the other by virtue ofthe attachments of their suspension-ropes upon opposite sides of thehoistingdrum, in a well known manner.v

This structure may be surrounded at lts base by a building, in which maybe stores andbusiness oliee, from which an additional income may bederived, when the structure 1s built in the heart of a city or largetown, or.

it may be built entirely detached from any building.

The operation of my invention is as follows: One of the cars being downand a company of persons desiring to go up, they enter the car, the dooris closed by the conductor, who

then starts the machinery by means of a shipper-cord, which passes upthrough the car Ain a well-known manner, and the car begins to ascend,the other car at the same time beginning to descend.

If any ofthe parties desire to 'stop on either or the galleries, theconductor, by the proper movement of the shipper-rope, stops the car,

opens the door of the car and the entrancedoor to the gallery, when thepassengers step out, the doors are again closed, and the carv continuesits upward movement till it arrives at the upper gallery, when thepassengers leave the car, stepping upon the upper gallery G, and,ascending one of the flights of stairs dd, enter the inclosure I, wherethey are allowed to remain for a given length of time to take a view ofthe scenery.

At the proper time a number of persons are notified that their time isup, and descending the stairs d to the upper gallery, they enter thecar, the dpor of which is closed by the conductor, and the car begins todescend, the

other car at the base of the tower, in the mean time having been lledwith passengers, at the same time begins to ascend.

This structure may be built of any desired height and size, accordingtoits location and the probable amount of' labor to be performed by it,and while its primary object is to carry people to an elevated positionfor the purpose ot' obtaining a view of the surrounding scenery, it maybe advantageously applied to shot'- towers and light-houses.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, IS'-,

l. An elevated tower, consisting of a skeleton framework or structure,in combination with one or more cars, adapted to be moved by steam orother power from the'base to the top of said tower, and vice versa, upand down suitable well-rooms provided forthe purpose within saidstructure, all so arranged and constructed that .the passengers, whilemoving up or down in the car, can view the surrounding scenery,substantially as described.

2. An elevated lookout-tower, consisting l of a skeleton or trussedframe-Work, and provided with two or more galleries or landingplaces atequal intervals between the base and top, in combination with one ormore elevator-cars and suitable hoisting mechanism for moving said carsfrom the base to the top of said tower, and vice versa, substantially asdescribed.

3. In combination with an elevated lookouttower, provided with anelevator-car and suitable hoisting mechanism for raising said car, theupper gallery C, stairs d', and open- Work inclosure I, as and for thepurposes described.

4. The open Work inclos'ure I, provided with a iioor arranged in aseriesof steps surrounding the inclosure and rising toward its center7 as andfor the purposes described.

Executed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 15th day of December, A. D.1875.

` LEMUEL B. SAWYER. Witnesses:

N. C. LOMBARD, E. A. HEMMENWAY.

